- Occupation
- Indigenous leader
A man of forceful character, Munangabum was the head of one of the sixteen clans forming the Jajowrong (or Djadjawurrung) language group whose land covered much of central western Victoria. He was held in high regard by his people – when he was gaoled in 1840 for sheep-stealing fellow Indigenous leaders journeyed to Melbourne to plead for his release. Early in 1841, while defending a companion against employees of a local settler, Munangabum was shot in the shoulder. Later in that drought-ridden year he nearly died when, as an envoy for Assistant Protector of Aborigines Edward Parker, he was without water for three days while on an expedition to the Mallee. Munangabum was murdered in 1846 by a rival clan-head from the south of the Jajowrong land.
